Property solicitor

[MummytoGeorgie]

I'm on maternity and I miss my work!

I'm a property solicitor, if anyone has any questions I would be more than happy to give some free advice to do with conveyancing i.e moving home, enquiries, searches, title documentation etc (no landlord tenant as that's not my area of expertise).

TIA

@Unsure33 hello, thank you for your message.

Once searches are in the buyers solicitors possession they usually have further enquiries to raise. Considering the property is only a year old I would say it's highly likely many questions will be raised.

They will need the planning permission for the build, the building regulations for the build, section 106 agreement .: usually they're are more title deeds (transfers) so the solicitor will need to review them and raise any enquiries on them.

As it's a cash buy all enquiries are not necessary but will most likely be raised as the solicitor will need to ensure that they have all documentation and replies to confirm everything is in good order if the property was to be sold by the current buyer at a later stage to someone with a mortgage.

It can be quick but due to the age id still expect it to take 8/10 weeks.

Xx

@MummytoGeorgie

thank you for your reply - presumably the seller would have had all these documents when he bought the house originally a year ago so documents should all be to hand though . All we can do is hope I guess . otherwise we will have to move into rented,

Oh wow, thank you. I have 2 solicitors. One for purchase and one for selling. The purchase solicitor is one the ball, no issues. The one I’m using for the sale is another matter. We had an offer on our house 3 months ago, and the only progress so far is the mortgage valuation being undertaken and I had to chase the estate agent to get that sorted as the buyer was taking ages. My solicitor says she sent the draft contact 3 weeks ago after I had been chasing for weeks and has not had any enquiries from the buyer at all but I found out today that the buyers solicitor has not received anything and says they’ve been chasing my solicitor for a month. Both say they’ve been chasing the other. I’m getting so frustrated by the whole thing as 3 months in and it feels like no progress. My solicitor does not respond to my calls or emails so it’s me constantly chasing her. The developer for the house I’m purchasing is the most proactive of everyone. Do you think it’s worth me changing to the solicitor that is doing the purchase?

our searches are through so lets see what questions they raise -

They had better hurry up as we will be homeless with dogs soon.

We’ve had a bit of a nightmare our end. The searches on the property we’ve bought all fine but the searches on our property failed the environmental search as we live next to an old petrol station (hasn’t been used in over 10 years) Our solicitor has put forward an indemnity insurance to their solicitor, which was only £35 to cover the issue. Has anyone else had any issues with searches? I hope this insurance policy will progress things as I am so stressed and just want this moving process to be over!

@Unsure33 hello, the seller should have the documentation. Hope it goes swiftly for you! Xx

@AnneLouise80 Hello, it is much easier when you appoint one solicitor to act for you in the purchase and sale. Given the delays so far I'd most definitely switch. Xx

@melissa120405 Usually contaminated land indemnity insurance is accepted in these instances however depending on your lender, the failed environmental search may have to be reported to them for their written consent to proceed. Xx

@MummytoGeorgie thank you so much for the advice. I got through to the solicitor today who has said they’ve reissued the contract. Do you think I should give them another chance or still change? Just wondering about the cost to change. I can completely see why having one solicitor would work better and would be so much easier.

@AnneLouise80 it's entirely up to you but I'd expect further delays with two solicitors. And on completion with sending money.

I would change at this early stage to avoid disappointment further down the line.

Xx

Hi. I feel a bit cheeky asking this but I am really confused about the role of the sellers EA. I'm buying for the first time in many years and this is the first time on my own. The EA have been quite intimidating and threatening that unless they handle all my financial affairs (mortgage broker and solicitor) the seller will reject my offer and look elsewhere. I have been actively looking to buy for almost 2 years and this is the furthest I've ever got. In order for me not to lose the house (this was a week after offer was accepted) I was told by the EA that I need to get the searches sorted out to prove I'm serious. So I paid the EA for these. I have finally recieved some info from the solicitors but the fees are higher than quoted via the EA and the information/agreements are written as if I'm the seller not the buyer. My question is, can I use a solicitor of my choice even though I've already paid the EA for the searches? The EA want me to use the same solicitors as the seller to keep everything coordinated but then I was told they should not do this so have bumped me off to another solicitors. I feel like the EA are taking the mickey. I can also see from the solicitors info that the EA are taking £500 commission which explains why they were so eager to sign me up and which they did not tell me about. Hope you can help. Many thanks.

@Justtootired55

Some estate agents get referral fees from solicitors if they refer to clients but they CANNOT force you to use their solicitors!! They should have informed you of this.

Also you do not pay an estate agent for searches, you pay your solicitor for them!!

I would say to them that you're using your own solicitor and that you're aware that they cannot legally force you to use their solicitors and if they continue to insist and say that you can't then you will make sure the seller is aware that they are saying you can't proceed with the purchase of the property if you don't use their solicitors and that you want to buy the property.

Call their bluff and stand your ground!!

They have no right at all.

Xx

Thanks for this. I've contacted the EA and they said the searches will go to my (their preferred) solicitors. I told them I haven't signed an agreement with the solicitors as I have queries with the information they sent. They said they will get someone to ring me back tomorrow. I am tempted to contact the seller directly. The house is empty as it belonged to a deceased relative so I cannot understand the hurry. It's probably just the EA trying to manipulate me so they get paid quickly. Really hating this experience so far (3 weeks into it) 🤦‍♀️

@Justtootired55 the searches can always be sent to your new solicitor.

I'd just instruct a new solicitor and proceed with them and email your estate agents in writing saying something along the lines of:

Dear *

I write further to our previous discussions on instructing a solicitor.

Please note that my new solicitor is (insert) and their email address is (insert).

If you continue to try to pressure me into using your chosen solicitor so that you can obtain a referral fee (which I am under no legal obligation to do so) then I will have alternative than to advise the seller directly as well as report you for misconduct.

Kind regards

Have it all in writing!

Xx

Brilliant. Thank you so much 👍

Thank you @MummytoGeorgie. I’ve contacted the purchase solicitor and will change over as it definitely seems more sensible. Thanks for the advice 😊

Hello again, OP,
I hope your mum is doing ok now?
Another quick question from me. My buyer's lender sent various enquiries to buyer's solicitor (reminder, there aer separate solicitors that the bank is using), apparently 5 pages as I mentioned previously. Well, now two weks had passed and my agent kept chasing and had a row with buyer's sols' assistant. They said they couldn't give an exchange date (even apprx) until bak is satiafied with al lresponses - well, ok.
Anyway, today it came to light that all enquiries are fine apart from one, to do with a survey issue (damp in one area - period house so it's not unusual). Lender wants to see the report from specialist damp proofing co. Buyer already ad that survey two months ago - though that was tied up to his previous deal which was changed since to a bew one with same lender. I was here when survey was dome - very prof co, great feedback, they also say on their website that they have a great admin team producing reports.
Buyer claims he can't get them to write a report for the lender to see - I don't know if it's because survey was two months ago but then why not have them revisit of so? Anyway he's now asking for a new co to come and survey and write the report for the lender. For that initial deal lender already retained a few thousand (accprding to buyer) - as a result I had to agree ot discount by more than half that estinated amount for repair. Repair is NOT urgent, surveyor said that it can be stretched over two yrs.
To befair the new co's website menton they do reports for building socities. I wonder if you could shed any lighht in this - is it something that some companies don't do? The 1st co's mentions reportas and admin tean but not specifically building society reports. Why would a company notprovide a report for a lender? My agent and I fnd it harrd to explain - she saus maybe hes fibbing but I can't think why. Could it be that bank wants to retain say 5K, but I disconted for less so he wants someone to write the estimate that' s equivalent to my discount - or whatever else? I know it's too specific for you to advise on possibly, but you may haev come across this.
I just watn to know whether I should be worried (again) at this supposedly last hurdle? My vendor is back on the market so I was really hoping to exchange this week and not lose the house, but if buyer is now faffing with another survey (mid=week#0 and report being sent to bank, we ar unlikely to exchange this week, are we?

Haha, sorry it was NOT quick, even though ome question.

@MummytoGeorgie This is really generous of you.

Do I need an accountant or a solicitor? I own my own house (mortgaged, not outright). During lockdown I moved in with my partner and plan to stay here, but am continuing to pay mortgage, taxes, utilities, insurance etc on my house as if I live there. My partner owns his house outright so doesn't need any rent and I contribute to household expenses.

I've only moved round the corner so I pop back often and pick up post (all my bills are paperless so this is mostly junk mail). I haven't yet changed my address on key things eg utilities, bank account, electoral register etc.

I've just started letting my house out as an Airbnb and it's going better than expected. I'm keeping track of everything I've been spending to set it up and maintain it for Airbnb and the income, and I'm saving 40% of the income (I work and am in 40% tax bracket) so I have it ready to pay tax. It's already gone over the £1k allowance for rental income, so I know I need to do tax properly.

I want some good advice about how to make sure I'm doing everything I should be, particularly as this is looking more like a permanent arrangement than a temporary stopgap. I just don't know whether I need a solicitor who is good at property or an accountant. Can you suggest which would be better?

Thanks for reading this whole screed!

@CatAndHisKit the lender may require a specialist damp proof survey to be undertaken as opposed to just a survey.

I find it quite odd as I've never had a lender been concerned of damp.

Some companies may not be able to produce a damp proof report as it would require a specialist to do so and not a company that just deals with general surveys. Whilst a general survey would reveal there's damp, it wouldn't go into great detail. A specialist damp company would be able to go into detail and explain fully what the issue is, where it lies and what remedial action needs to be taken.

If a report hasn't been undertaken yet then I highly doubt you'll exchange this week.

You need to find out exactly what report they need and if it is a damp report then a specialist company will need to come in ASAP to carry out the inspection of the damp and then they can usually take up to a week to prepare the report which will then need to be submitted to the lender for them to send to the underwriters to confirm it's ok to proceed so I'd say 2-3 weeks max.

What a pain!!!

Sorry you're still going through this it's very pedantic of them to want a damp report as it's not usually something that a lender would want to know about.

Xx

@ElizabethinherGermanGarden Hello, I hope you're well! You would need an accountant to do this for you not a solicitor re tax.

One thing though, as you do have a residential mortgage on the property I highly doubt the bank would allow you to rent the property through air bnb (it'd be seen as a holiday home) so I would, so you know, contact a property solicitor for independent legal advice as depending on your lender, you may not be able to do what you're doing legally without remortgaging to do a different mortgage first which enables you to let it through air bnb.

Xx

Thank you!

Thank you, OP, not least for the sympathy!
This is the specialist damp co coming to survey and report - but I meant that he alrready had sent another damo company (very reputable) two months ago after which I had discounted by 3K as he claimed they estimated the works for even more than that. The strange thing is, he says he cant get them to do the report. The new company who are coming this week, have promised the report and also it's ther site that clais they do building society reports.

What I was trying to ask you in my previous post was, why would one co be happy to submit a report to lenders and another wouldn't be (is there some sort of approavle system that lenders have) - is that usual? and if not , what would the buyers motives be for lying abour it...I get it that you are unlikely to know if you neer ha that. You did say that lenders' own sols can be pedantic - that proved to be the case! I just hope they won't be pedantic about results and come up with unreasonable demands like having to repair it now. Buyer says it's a formality. Sigh.

Hi @MummytoGeorgie

We've completed on our sale which is very exciting, but we think we have overpaid and neither the bank nor the solicitor are taking ownership.

Essentially we asked for our mortgage booking fee to be added to the mortgage.

Just before we completed, our solicitor said the booking fee hadn't been added to the total sent to them by the bank, so we'd need to pay it up front to make sure the transaction went through.

Fast forward to our statement from the mortgage company - the booking fee has been added separately.

Our solicitor said to take it up with the mortgage company, but they've said the booking fee wouldn't have gone through the solicitor so doesn't know why it was requested.

Can you shed some light on to who is likely to be right?

I've gone back to the solicitor but I do feel a little out of my depth here! It's £999, so not a small amount!

Hi@MummytoGeorgie

Me again . Well I thought we were about to exchange . Solicitor asked for deposit to be transferred . We asked to exchange next week completion by 2nd sept . We will be homeless by then as on licence to occupy . Now today we have been told they are waiting.
For information pack from management company ( it is freehold on small estate of 39 houses) so now we are stuck as they have to do a certificate of compliance or they won’t be able to register our ownership with land registry !

We have read the covenants and there is nothing too onerous so is it a huge risk to go ahead and exchange without this certificate ?

@CatAndHisKit I don't believe the previous company can't do a report. They always provide a report at the end of their assessment. There is no approval system I have no idea why they need it again. It's very strange to me. Sorry I can't be more helpful xx

@Andthenanothercupoftea are you talking about your mortgage advance on your purchase? If so, the £999 gets added to the loan but isn't released with the mortgage advance to your purchasers solicitors. Have you got your completion statement? Ask for an updated one since you paid an extra £999. I can only think that the completion statement they have provided you has the wrong mortgage advance on they've deducted the £999 off of the actual advance not realising it's already been deducted. I would Ask for up to date statement. Xx

@Unsure33 oh dear that's awful! To get to this stage and for the sellers solicitors to not realise that there is a freehold management pack or your solicitors to realise that there is a restriction on title is very bad!! Your solicitor should have picked this up right at the outset. Your solicitor cannot exchange without the pack as the pack could have information in that needs to be investigated further.. it's highly likely that there will be further enquiries to be raised once received. Your solicitor will need to do x, y and z to obtain the certificate and they won't know what x, y and z is until such time as they receive the pack.

You cannot exchange even if you wanted to. If you exchanged and then couldn't get the certificate it would breach mortgage conditions and you wouldn't be able to register your names as the legal owners at the land registry on completion.

Unfortunately, I know it's hugely frustrating, you will have to wait for it but it usually takes anywhere from 7-21 days for the pack to come in from the date it was requested.

Sorry it's not more positive and I hope it comes quickly for you! Xx

Thank you, OP. The specialist damp surveyor told me yesterday that it's very common for lenders to request damp and timber reports. POssibly theu aer not free of charge to th client and the previous co wanted to charge too much. But I wonder if for the lender tis is just a formality - surely you came across such requests? but I realise you may not have deealt with any issues arising from that.

I was just curious if it ever affects things seriously if there is nothing urgent/uusual but repairs need doing in the near future. He said previously the lender had retained a few thousand - hence I've discounted, I hope that would be it though.